MR Poovamma, spearhead and senior most member of the Asian Games gold medal winning Indian 4×400 Women’s relay team (which included Hima Das, Saritaben Gayakwad and VK Vismaya), explains the future implications of the victory in Jakarta, and reveals details behind the bold strategy that helped them upstage Salwa Naser-led Bahrain.

A gold medal is special under any circumstance, no doubt. But, when the top prize at the Asian Games — at any competition for that matter — comes after an athlete manages to upstage the best in the world, the medal attains a deeper meaning. Its significance transcends the podium, going much beyond the fervour or emotions the celebrating athletes, the fluttering flag, and the national anthem conjure up. The gold medal gets an additional gleam from a promise for the future, while dreams and aspirations of the athlete involved find new horizons.

When Hima Das, MR Poovamma, Saritaben Gayakwad and VK Vismaya climbed onto the top rung of the podium to celebrate the country’s final gold (in the women’s 4x400m relay) from athletics in Jakarta, on the last day of track and field competitions at Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium on August 30, they stood tall with a realisation that could, in the coming years, take them to higher pedestals.

source:http://www.newsclick.in / News Click / Home> Sports> India / by Leslie Xavier / August 31st, 2018